Sole plate for shoe presses



W. S. ANDERSON SOLE PLATE FOR SHOE PRESSES Fig.1.

I 8 no I I \fivenTor.

3 William S. Anderson M Warm ATTys.

Patented Jan. 26, 1937 TATS FFIQE to Shoe Press Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application July 12, 1935, Serial No. 31,054

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a so-called sole plate such as is used in apparatus for attaching soles to shoe bottoms by the cement process for the purpose of applying the sole-attaching pressure to the shoe bottom.

One of the objects of the invention is to pro vide an improved sole plate which is constructed with a sole-engaging face that conforms approximately to the shape of the foot-engaging face of the sole of the average broken-in shoe rather than to the shape of the foot-engaging face of the insole of a new shoe.

After a shoe has been Worn and has been thoroughly broken-in the insole takes on a shape somewhat different from that which it had when the shoe was first made, the foot-engaging face of the average broken-in shoe having a somewhat concave shape transversely of the shoe, and, in the case of a welt shoe, the welt being upwardly inclined slightly from its inner to its outer edge.

My improved sole plates are made with a soleengaging face having a convex shape which conforms to the average concave shape of the footengaging faces of a number of broken-in shoes and with a flat face at its marginal portion which forms with the outer portion of the concave face a salient angle approximating the angle which the welt of the broken-in shoe has with the concave sole-engaging face thereof. Hence, when a sole plate embodying my invention is used in resoling a used shoe by the cement process, the sole-engaging face of the sole plate helps to preserve, rather than to destroy, the shape which has been given to the insole by the user of the shoe, and the flat face also helps to preserve instead of disturb the position which the welt of a welt shoe has assumed after the shoe has been worn for some time. Therefore, when the resoling operation is completed the shoe has the same comfortable natural feel that it had before the new soles were attached;

In re-soling shoes by the cement process it is customary to prepare the shoe bottom for the reception of the new sole and then .to apply the cement either to the marginal portion of the shoe bottom, or the marginal portion of the sole, and then to place the sole on the shoe bottom and apply the sole-attaching pressure thereto through the medium of a suitable shoepress device.

In order to do an effective job it is important that the sole-attaching pressure should be properly applied to the marginal portions of the sole which are provided with the cement, and the sole plate herein illustrated having the marginal flat face which forms the salient angle with the outer portion of the concave face is admirably adapted for this purpose. This fiat face not only pro vides for applying the proper pressure to the portion of the sole to which the cement is applied, but because of the angle which this flat face makes with the concave face the application of the sole-attaching pressure does not disturb the inclined position which the welt of a welt shoe has assumed, and furthermore any surplus cement is naturally forced outwardly to the exterior of the sole where it can be readily removed.

In order to give an understanding of the invention I have illustrated in the drawing a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing;

Fig. 1 is a partial sectional view through a shoepress illustrating my improved sole plate in use.

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the sole plate showing the sole-engaging face thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 33, Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section through the sole plate on the line 4-4, Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the novel features of the improved sole plate.

In Fig. 1 I have shown a solepress or shoepress of the general construction illustrated in Patents No. 1,654,408, December 27, 1927, No. 1,711,424, April 30, 1929. These solepresses comprise a flexible pad I to receive the sole 2 of the shoe 3 and which forms the top of a water-containing chamber 4. The shoe is pressed against the pad l through the medium of a last member comprising a sole plate 5 which is inserted in the shoe and a body member 6, and pressure is applied to the last member through the medium of a screw screw-threaded through a yoke 8 with which the shoepress is provided. The sole plates 5 are separable from the body portion 6 so that sole plates of different sizes can be used according to the size of the shoe to which the sole is being attached.

My improved sole plates are especially made so as to provide a sole-engaging face which conforms approximately to the shape of the footengaging face of the insole of a worn or brokenin shoe.

When a shoe is first made the foot-engaging face of the sole is substantially flat in transverse direction, but by the time the shoe has been worn long enough to require re-soling the foot-engaging face of the insole has been given a somewhat concave shape or contour by the Wearers foot BEISSUED different from that which said foot-engaging face had when the shoe was first made, and the welt of a welt shoe has been turned up slightly at its edges and thus has a slightly inclined position.

My improved sole plate 5 is made with a footengaging face 9 which has a convex curvature that approximates the average concave curvature or shape that is produced in any shoe after it has been worn for a considerable length of time,

so that when a shoe is re-soled and the soleattaching pressure is applied to the shoe through the sole plate embodying my invention such pressure does not disturb or change appreciably the shape of the foot-engaging face of the used shoe. Hence, when the re-soling operation is completed the foot-engaging face of the sole has substantially the same shape as it had before the soleattaching pressure was applied thereto.

In cementing soles to shoes it is customary to apply the cement to the marginal portions of the sole and the shoe bottom, and in order to cement properly the sole to the shoe bottom it is desirable that the requisite amount of pressure should be applied to the portion of the sole and shoe bottom which has been provided with the cement.

My improved sole plate is designed to apply this pressure properly and to do it without dis-' turbing to any appreciable extent the position which the welt of a welt shoe has been given by continued use.

Not only is the bottom of the sole plate formed with the'convex curvature above described but the marginal portion of the sole plate, which corresponds to the portions of the sole and shoe bottom to which the cement is applied, is made to present a cement track shown at ID, the surface of which is flat in directions at right angles to'the edge of the sole plate and has anontangential relation to the convex portion 9 of the sole plate, thisnon-tangential relation being such as to produce an appreciable salient angle along the line H where the inner edge of the flat cement track In meets the convexly-curved central portion 9 of the bottom face of the sole plate.

This non-tangential relation between the cement track Ill and the curved bottom face 9 is best seen in Fig. 5 which is a diagrammatic view somewhat exaggerated. In said figure the curved line 9 indicates the convexly-curved bottom face of the sole plate and the straight portions I6 indicate the cement track. In said figure the dotted line l2 indicates a line which is tangential to the curved line 9 at the point I I where the fiat cement track it) meets the convexly-curved face 9. It will be observed that line If! which represents the cement track has an angular relation to the tangential line 12, said line l0 having a position inside the tangential line which would cut across the curved line 9 if the latter were extended. This non-tangential relation of the cement track to the curved line 9 produces the salient angle or ridge ll above-referred to.

When the shoe and the sole have been assembled, after having been properly cemented, and the sole-attaching pressure is applied to the sole plate, the cement track H] provides a flat face through which the pressure is applied to the portion of the shoe bottom and the sole to whichthe cement is applied, without, however, changing to any appreciable extent the shape which this portion of the shoe bottom has assumed due to con plished without changing to any appreciable extent the shape of the sole-engaging'face of the shoe bottom, or, in the case of a welt shoe, the shape or position of the welt of a broken-in shoe.

With my invention, therefore, the sho -after,

being resoled, has the same comfortable feeling" it had before the new soles were applied.

I claim: 7 1. A sole plate for use in a solepress while resoling shoes, said sole plate having a bottom soleengaging' surface, the central portion 'of which is slightly convex to approximate the complemental shape of the foot-engaging surface of the sole of the average broken-in shoe, and the marginal portion of which is flat in a direction at'right angles to the edge of the sole plate and has a non-tangential relation with said convex surface by which a salient angle is formed between said outer portion of the convex surface and said flat marginal portion.

2. A sole plate for use in a solepress while resoling shoes, said sole plate having a bottom soleengaging surface, the central portionof which is slightly convex to approximate the complemental shape of the foot-engaging surface of the sole of the average broken-in shoe, and the marginal portion of which is flat in a direction at right angles to the edge of the sole plate and is situated on the inside of a line tangential to the convex central portion at the outer edge thereof, thereby to form a salient angle therewith.

WILLIAM S. ANDERSON. 

